my first century

tingle_wayne said:

I'm doing my first century in april. What can i do as i incorporate longer rides to be better?

A search will show up several threads with similar questions.

I just did a google search and found several nice sites, a couple are:

nationalmssociety.orgevent detail.aspOpen ↗

and

active.comcentury challengeOpen ↗

The trick is to increase your mileage every week and mix in some intense periods and not forget to rest.

Enjoy the ride!

I don't know where you're coming from, but if you haven't done a lot of long rides before, now is the time to get your set-up and positioning worked out. Things that seem like minor annoyances on short rides(numb hands, aching knees...) are going to kill you when you start loading up the miles.

This may sound weird, but practice eating and drinking on the bike. Not just the physical act, but get your system used to eating while working and make sure you are drinking enough. A lot of people (me included) have a difficult time eating while exercising. I don't feel hungry, in fact I often feel like food is off-putting when putting in a strenuous ride, so I have to be careful to not bonk. You'll be a much happier camper the whole way through if you keep yourself fed and hydrated. Experimenting now will give you an idea of what foods and drinks work best for you too.

tingle_wayne said:

I'm doing my first century in april. What can i do as i incorporate longer rides to be better?

I just rode my first century in November. I second what was said about positioning and eating. If your position is off you may not feel a big difference over 10-30 miles, but when you hit that 75mile marker you want to make sure that things aren't going numb, ie hands, but , neck/shoulders etc. If your local shop offers fitting services, do it. Most cost about $40 but it is money well spent. I had been riding for 3 months and found out at the fitting that my seat needed to be moved over 3cm. As for eating, i don't like to eat on the bike, even when I stop for water. I prefer GU. Easy to eat while riding, and each one gives you about 100 calories per ounce. Definately try different ones long before your century as you don't want an upset stomach.
As for specific training, Bicycling magazine had a good 10 week Century training program in the aug or sept issue.
Overall, have fun and good luck.

Tip#1: Get used to spending 4-5 hours on your bike.

Tip#2: Bring a saddle bag with a patch kit AND chain tool

Tip#3: Learn to ride in a group and to draft.

Tip#4: Break the ride into 25 mile increments

Tip #5:Write the locations (distance wise) of all the rest stops on a piece of tape and stick it on your handlebar.

Tip#6: Come Hydrated, Stay Hydrated, Leave Hydrated

Eden said:

This may sound weird, but practice eating and drinking on the bike. Not just the physical act, but get your system used to eating while working and make sure you are drinking enough. A lot of people (me included) have a difficult time eating while exercising. I don't feel hungry, in fact I often feel like food is off-putting when putting in a strenuous ride, so I have to be careful to not bonk. You'll be a much happier camper the whole way through if you keep yourself fed and hydrated. Experimenting now will give you an idea of what foods and drinks work best for you too.

I feel the same way. I usually try to eat a bar just before i ride and thats it. I suspect that won't be good enough on a long ride. Drinking while on the bike proves to be a bit tricky.

Also my legs and feet tend to cramp up after about 20 miles.